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Egypt needs to guarantee security before resumption of air travel: Putin

Xinhua, April 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that it is premature to resume flights to Egypt as the country cannot prove that it could provide adequate safety for Russian tourists.

"We need to find a method, together with Egyptian authorities, to screen passengers, luggage, in-flight catering and aircraft maintenance, which will make the stay, arrival and departure of our citizens safe," Putin said during his annual live phone-in.

As no solution has been found, he said, the Russian government "have no right not to warn people that going to that country is dangerous."

The remarks came one month after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Egypt have agreed to resume air travel after meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

On Oct. 31, 2015, a Russia-bound Airbus A321 crashed shortly after taking off from Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people aboard, mostly Russians.

The Russian federal security service announced later that the plane was brought down by a bomb. Putin then ordered the suspension of the country's flights to Egypt. Endi